Methods and apparatus for providing search results in response to an ambiguous search query
First Claim
1. A method of providing search results in response to an ambiguous search query, the ambiguous search query including a sequence of ambiguous information components, the method comprising:
- receiving a sequence of ambiguous information components from a user;
obtaining mapping information that maps the ambiguous information components to less ambiguous information components;
using the mapping information and a lexicon, the lexicon comprising less ambiguous information components that have been previously processed by a search engine as search queries, to convert the sequence of ambiguous information components into at least two corresponding sequences of less ambiguous information components;
providing the at least two sequences of less ambiguous information, each of the sequences effectively being joined by a logical “
OR”
operation request, as an input to the search engine;
obtaining search results from the search engine; and
presenting the search results to the user.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatus consistent with the invention allow a user to submit an ambiguous search query and to receive relevant search results. In one embodiment, a sequence of numbers received from a user of a standard telephone keypad is translated into a set of potentially corresponding alphanumeric sequences. These potentially corresponding alphanumeric sequences are provided as an input to a conventional search engine, using a boolean “OR” expression, and the search results are presented to the user. The search engine effectively limits search results to those in which the user was likely interested.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. A method of providing search results in response to an ambiguous search query, the ambiguous search query including a sequence of ambiguous information components, the method comprising:
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receiving a sequence of ambiguous information components from a user; obtaining mapping information that maps the ambiguous information components to less ambiguous information components; using the mapping information and a lexicon, the lexicon comprising less ambiguous information components that have been previously processed by a search engine as search queries, to convert the sequence of ambiguous information components into at least two corresponding sequences of less ambiguous information components; providing the at least two sequences of less ambiguous information, each of the sequences effectively being joined by a logical “
OR”
operation request, as an input to the search engine;obtaining search results from the search engine; and presenting the search results to the user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of providing search results to a user in response to an ambiguous search query, comprising:
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receiving at least two number words constituting a number phrase; converting each number word into one or more letter words, based on mapping information, in combination with a lexicon, to generate a plurality of letter phrases, each of the letter phrases corresponding to the number phrase, wherein the lexicon is a list of letter phrases that previously have been processed by the search engine as search queries; forming a search query to a search engine wherein the search query includes at least one of the letter phrases; obtaining search results from the search engine in response to the search query; and providing the search results to a user, wherein the search results include references to Web page documents. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of providing search results in response to an ambiguous search query, the ambiguous search query including a sequence of ambiguous information components, the method comprising:
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receiving a sequence of ambiguous information components from a user; obtaining mapping information that maps the ambiguous information components to less ambiguous information components; using the mapping information to translate the sequence of ambiguous information components into a plurality of corresponding sequences of less ambiguous information components; determining a subset of the plurality of sequences of less ambiguous information components by comparing the plurality of sequences of less ambiguous information components with terms used in past search queries, stored in a search query log, that previously have been processed by the search engine; providing the subset of sequences of less ambiguous information components as an input to a search engine; obtaining search results from the search engine; and presenting the search results to the user. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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19. A method of providing search results in response to an ambiguous search query, comprising:
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receiving a sequence of information components from a user, each information component corresponding to a key press; obtaining mapping information that maps each of the key press information components to a plurality of other information components, each corresponding to the same key press; using the mapping information, in combination with a lexicon, to determine, from the sequence of key press information components, other sequences of information components by converting each key press information component to each of the other information components that correspond to the key press component, wherein the lexicon is a list of other sequences of information components that previously have been processed by a search engine as search queries; providing one or more of the received sequence and the other sequences as a search query input to the a search engine; obtaining search results from the search engine; and presenting the search results to the user, wherein the search results include references to Web page documents. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A method of providing search results in response to an ambiguous search query, the ambiguous search query including a sequence of ambiguous information components, the method comprising:
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receiving a sequence of ambiguous information components from a user associated with a language; obtaining mapping information that maps the ambiguous information components to less ambiguous information components; using the mapping information, in combination with a lexicon, to convert the sequence of ambiguous information components into one or more corresponding sequences of less ambiguous information components, wherein the lexicon is a list of sequences of less ambiguous information components that previously have been processed by a search engine as search queries; providing one or more of the sequences of less ambiguous information as an input to a search engine; obtaining search results from a search engine; reordering the obtained search results using the language of the user; and presenting the reordered search results to the user, wherein the search results include references to Web page documents.
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25. A computer-readable medium consisting of one or more memory devices and/or storage devices storing one or more instructions for providing search results in response to an ambiguous search query, the ambiguous search query including a sequence of ambiguous information components, the instructions comprising:
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receiving a sequence of ambiguous information components from a user; obtaining mapping information that maps the ambiguous information components to less ambiguous information components; using the mapping information, in combination with a lexicon, to convert translate the sequence of ambiguous information components into at least two corresponding sequences of less ambiguous information components, wherein the lexicon is a list of sequences of less ambiguous information components that previously have been processed by a search engine as search queries; providing the at least two sequences of less ambiguous information, each of the sequences effectively being joined by a logical “
OR”
operation request, as an input to the a search engine;obtaining search results from the search engine; and presenting the search results to the user.
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26. An apparatus for providing search results in response to an ambiguous search query, the ambiguous search query including a sequence of ambiguous information components, comprising:
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at least one memory having program instructions; and at least one processor configured to execute the program instructions to perform the operations of; receiving a sequence of ambiguous information components from a user; obtaining mapping information that maps the ambiguous information components to less ambiguous information components; using the mapping information, in combination with a lexicon, to convert the sequence of ambiguous information components into at least two corresponding sequences of less ambiguous information components, wherein the lexicon is a list of sequences of less ambiguous information components that previously have been processed by a search engine as search queries; providing the at least two sequences of less ambiguous information, each of the sequences effectively being joined by a logical “
OR”
operation request, as an input to the a search engine;obtaining search results from the search engine; and presenting the search results to the user.
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27. An apparatus for providing search results in response to an ambiguous search query, the ambiguous search query including a sequence of ambiguous information components, comprising:
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means for receiving a sequence of ambiguous information components from a user; means for obtaining mapping information that maps the ambiguous information components to less ambiguous information components; means for using the mapping information, in combination with a lexicon, to convert the sequence of ambiguous information components into at least two corresponding sequences of less ambiguous information components, wherein the lexicon is a list of sequences of less ambiguous information components that previously have been processed by a search engine as search queries; means for providing the at least two sequences of less ambiguous information, each of the sequences effectively being joined by a logical “
OR”
operation request, as an input to the a search engine;means for obtaining search results from the search engine; and means for presenting the search results to the user.
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Specification